Skip to main content
Texas

Steve Sarkisian is the fifth highest-paid head coach in 2025, per USA TODAY

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook10/08/25josephcook89
Texas HC Steve Sarkisian
Matt Pendleton | Imagn Images

USA Today released its annual look at head coaching salaries on Wednesday, offering a fascinating look at the big business that is leading a Power Four football program. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, whose 2025 salary is $10.8 million, is the fifth highest-paid head coach in the FBS this year.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]

Sarkisian lags behind Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, USC’s Lincoln Riley, and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.

Here’s the full top 25

  1. Kirby Smart – Georgia – $13,282,580
  2. Ryan Day – Ohio State – $12,575,000
  3. Lincoln Riley – USC – $11,537,560
  4. Dabo Swinney – Clemson – $11,447,025
  5. Steve Sarkisian – Texas – $10,800,000
  6. Dan Lanning – Oregon – $10,400,000
  7. Kalen DeBoer – Alabama – $10,250,000
  8. Brian Kelly – LSU – $10,175,000
  9. Bill Belichick – North Carolina – $10,100,000
  10. Lane Kiffin – Ole Miss – $9,000,000
  11. Eliah Drinkwitz – Missouri – $9,000,000
  12. Josh Heupel – Tennessee – $9,000,000
  13. Mark Stoops – Kentucky – $9,000,000
  14. Deion Sanders – Colorado – $8,975,000
  15. Matt Rhule – Nebraska – $8,500,000
  16. James Franklin – Penn State – $8,500,000
  17. Mario Cristobal – Miami – $8,302,883
  18. Curt Cignetti – Indiana – $8,300,000
  19. Bret Bielema – Illinois – $8,200,000
  20. Shane Beamer – South Carolina – $8,150,000
  21. Luke Fickell – Wisconsin – $7,825,000
  22. Jedd Fisch – Washington – $7,575,024
  23. Brent Venables – Oklahoma – $7,552,750
  24. Billy Napier – Florida – $7,442,000
  25. Kenny Dillingham – Arizona State – $7,442,000

The Southeastern Conference is home to 11 of the top 25 highest-paid coaches in the sport. The Big 10 follows with nine. The Atlantic Coast Conference has three. The Big 12 has two. Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman sits at No. 26 on the list with a salary of $7,421,201.

USA Today did not have data available for a number of private schools, namely Power Conference institutions like Duke, Boston College, BYU, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Northwestern, and Stanford.

Other SEC coaching salaries outside the top 25 include

There are some incredibly lofty buyouts in the FBS ranks in the data provided by USA Today. Smart’s buyout as of December 1 of this year would be over $100 million. Coaches with buyouts above $50 million include Smart, Day, DeBoer, Sarkisian, Swinney, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Lanning, Cignetti, and Kelly. Riley’s buyout was not publicly available.

Earlier this year, Sarkisian had an additional season tacked on to his contract after making the semifinals in back-to-back College Football Playoffs. Signed through the 2031 season, Sarkisian will make $11.05 million in 2026, $11.3 million in 2027, $11.55 million in 2028, $11.8 million in 2029, $12.05 million in 2030, and $12.3 million in 2031.

Sarkisian’s buyout should the school elect to terminate his contract without cause as of December 1 would be $60,307,500.

If Sarkisian were to terminate the contract before the end of this year, an act associated with leaving for another role, he would owe Texas $6 million. If he took another job on or after January 1, 2026, he would owe $4 million according to documents obtained via an open records request.

Buyouts for coaches on Pete Nakos’ recent article detailing coaches under pressure are as follows, per the USA Today data:

You may also like